A gift from my dad to my mom. Turns out it's a very valuable piece-which when researching, I couldn't find any one-including fine Native American jewelers who didn't but yawn about it.
I knew it was valuable & refused to give up; then found a 40 year veteran dealing in Native American jewelry who identified and valued this squash blossom. Hurray!

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Maddy, 4 years agoI just wanted to write that I FINALLY found a 40 year veteran dealer in Native American Jewelry who loved & identified this piece, estimating it as being 60+ years old, and placed a value on this necklace of $4,000! Yay!! It's Navajo and definitely a man's piece-no wonder my mom was uncomfortable-it weighs 356 grams!
Thank you all for your comments!

Stillwater, 4 years agoUnfortunately the valuation he gave you is not up to date. Squash blossoms are not popular right now, and the market reflects that. This one is similar in terms of desirability to yours and it only sold for $281:

They're so hard to sell right now that I don't even look at them at estate sales. Even fantastic squashes aren't selling for over $1,200 at the moment. That's why all the dealers you showed it to "yawned."

Its from the 1970's, so its not as old as he thought. That was when that bear-claw motif began showing up, no earlier than 1960.